keepsakes

How NOT to save your photos or donate books

By Hazel Thornton | March 26, 2023 |

Have you ever hidden anything in a book? Maybe used a photo as a bookmark? I don’t recommend it as a way to save your photos! Here’s why: I volunteer weekly for my local Friends of the Library. We price and sort donated books for our monthly used book sales (at which I also run…

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Are you and your clutter ready to “Go With the Flow”?

By Hazel Thornton | March 13, 2023 |

  Looking for a new, fun way to get clutter-free in ’23? Inn-tro-du-cingg…(drumroll, please)…the long-awaited release of my latest project: Go With the Flow! The Clutter Flow Chart Workbook        

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Gifts I Got from Mom

By Hazel Thornton | May 7, 2022 |

I grew up in a family of six, with my parents, three younger brothers, and few relatives. Certainly none who lived nearby. My parents did not share family stories or photos. Not really. We enjoyed slide shows of our own family vacations, but nothing historical. I guess they were too busy working and raising us…

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What’s a photo without the story?

By Hazel Thornton | July 19, 2020 |

UPDATE #1: Mystery solved! (scroll down) UPDATE #2: I was so taken by my grandmother’s “bathing beauty” photograph that I used it on the cover of my 2021 book — What’s a Photo Without the Story? How to Create Your Family Legacy (click to learn more). The book is not about my family, per se,…

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Are your keepsakes a legacy, or a liability?

By Hazel Thornton | September 30, 2019 |

Have you inherited keepsakes you don’t know what to do with? I can’t tell you how many of my clients have had a garage or storage unit full of stuff they inherited from a loved one. These items represent a mix of emotions – memories good and bad; guilt over secretly wanting to reclaim the…

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Climbing your never-ending family tree

By Hazel Thornton | April 29, 2019 |

Your family tree is never really finished! It is forever growing on both ends. New descendants of your ancestors are continually being born (even if not to you, personally), and no matter how many branches and leaves you’ve added in the past, there are always more for you to discover.

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Managing Memorabilia: 5 questions to ask before you start

By Hazel Thornton | April 2, 2018 |

We’ve all inherited and collected keepsakes and memorabilia. Are yours a legacy, or a liability? A blessing, or a burden? Are you afraid to open the boxes that have been languishing in your garage or storage unit? Do you feel overwhelmed by piles of your own photos, letters, kids’ artwork, and other tangible memories?

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A Valentine for Your Family: Planning for Your Legacy

By Hazel Thornton | February 9, 2018 |

If you got hit by a bus tomorrow, what would your loved ones be left with? Happy memories, or sad ones? Clutter and uncertainty? Or clear instructions and valued keepsakes? What will your legacy be?  

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Mom’s Boxes Part 3: Trip down memory lane

By Hazel Thornton | August 28, 2017 |

My brother, Mike, and I have agreed there’s something about going through Mom’s boxes that we hadn’t fully bargained for: Going down Mom’s memory lane includes going down our own memory lanes. This can be heartwarming, and great fun…and also embarrassing, sad, and exhausting. It feels like my life is flashing before my eyes in…

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